Matlock v. Ill. Dep't of Emp't Sec.

2019 IL App (1st) 180645

130 N.E.3d 41

432 Ill.Dec. 790

Lathel MATLOCK, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.The ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY; The Director of Employment Security; The Board of Review of the Illinois Department of Employment Security; and The Department of Human Services, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 1-18-0645

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Second Division.

May 28, 2019

JUSTICE PUCINSKI delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Plaintiff, Lathel Matlock, appeals the trial court's order, affirming the decision of the Board of Review of the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES or Board) denying him unemployment benefits under the Unemployment Insurance Act (Act) ( 820 ILCS 405/100 et seq. (West 2016); ( 820 ILCS 405/601(A) (West 2016)). Plaintiff appeals the trial court's judgment pro se . We reverse.

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 The record shows that, from February 10, 2017, to August 6, 2017, plaintiff provided adult care services as an individual provider for the Home Services Program of the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS). On August 6, 2017, plaintiff filed a claim for unemployment insurance benefits under the Act. The notice of claim to the employer provided that plaintiff began work on February 10, 2017, and his last day of work was August 6, 2017. Under the section "Reason for Separation," it states "Laid-Off (Lack of work)." On September 14, 2017, DHS filed a protest letter, asserting that plaintiff voluntarily left his position, gave no prior notice of, or reason for, his separation to the agency, and did not return to work after his last day on August 6, 2017. DHS stated: "This severance (abandonment of the job) can in no way be attributable to either the employer (disabled client) or this agency."

¶ 4 On September 28, 2017, a claims adjudicator from IDES conducted an interview with plaintiff regarding his claim. Plaintiff told the adjudicator that he kept calling DHS to see if he was getting paid, "they kept give [sic ] me the run around," and "they didn't know if Gov. Rauner was going to pay us or not." Asked whether he "stopped reporting because they weren't paying you," plaintiff responded, "Well yeah, you don't want to work for nobody if they not gon [sic ] pay you." Asked whether he had a choice to remain employed, he responded, "Yes." Plaintiff told the adjudicator that, before he left, he did not inform his employer he was leaving and he did not take any steps to explain or resolve the situation. In response to the question why he did not attempt to explain or resolve the situation before he left, plaintiff responded: "I just started looking for a new job. I have a family and I couldn't just keep going to work and not getting paid." Plaintiff stated that the incident violated the original hiring agreement because "they didn't live up to their agreement saying we was gon [sic ] be paid."

¶ 5 The adjudicator could not reach DHS to conduct an interview. On October 6, 2017, the adjudicator denied plaintiff's claim for unemployment benefits. The adjudicator's written order found that the evidence showed plaintiff "voluntarily" left his employment at DHS "because he did not receive payment of wages when due." It stated that plaintiff alleged "he was not being paid by DHS but failed to provide proof of non payment." The adjudicator found plaintiff ineligible for benefits, concluding he "left work voluntarily without good cause attributable to the employer."

¶ 6 Plaintiff filed a request to reconsider the adjudicator's decision. In his written request to reconsider, he asserted that he did not quit voluntarily and was "let [g]o [d]ue [t]o [l]ack of [p]ayment." He asserted he was not getting paid because DHS kept losing his "worksheet for signing in" and a supervisor told him he "should be getting paid if not I should not be working." To his request for reconsideration, defendant attached an unsigned letter dated October 9, 2017, from a "Home Services Provider" on DHS letterhead, stating that "[t]his letter is to notify you that your position with the Department of Human Services was terminated on July 6, 2017 due to lack of work."

¶ 7 The adjudicator's decision was affirmed, and plaintiff appealed to an IDES referee. The referee conducted a hearing by telephone. Plaintiff was the only party present at the hearing because the referee was unable to reach the DHS representatives.

¶ 8 Plaintiff testified that, from November 2016 to July 2017, he provided adult care services as a personal assistant for DHS. Asked why he stopped working, plaintiff testified as follows:

"They kept * * saying * * * every time the pay period came around, um, the supervisors at some of the different sites or because you got different supervisors * * *, you'll get this answer, you'll get that answer * * * the bottom line, everybody was waiting on Governor Rauner to release the money to pay the aging people."

Plaintiff did not know how much money DHS owed him and testified he "had just really just given up." He testified that "I've never quit. I never bothered to leave, I just felt that they wasn't doing what * * * they obligation was that they told me. I didn't have nobody fighting for me. I didn't have nobody, you know, saying, * * * ‘this person needs to be getting paid.’ " Plaintiff testified that he did not file a wage and hour claim with the Department of Labor, noting that "this is my first time doing this" and people told him to get a lawyer but he did not have any money to pay a lawyer. Plaintiff testified he did not have copies of his time sheets with him "because I had to * * * where I was at, it got flooded out." The referee told plaintiff that DHS "sent in a report saying that they've paid you during this period of time." The referee also asked plaintiff if he would have stayed if DHS would have paid him, and he responded, "Yes."

¶ 9 Plaintiff testified at the hearing that "the supervisor from the last person that called me, they told me all I had to do was just go get the letter from DHS, saying that they had released me and I didn't voluntary quit." The referee noted that the letter to which plaintiff was referring and had submitted was unsigned and contradicted what plaintiff was telling the referee, as the letter stated plaintiff was laid off.

¶ 10 The referee affirmed the adjudicator's determination. In its written order, it found that plaintiff separated from work on August 6, 2017, "when for unknown reasons he stopped reporting for work." The referee stated that plaintiff "insisted that he left work because he never received pay for any of his work" and he never "submitted an accounting of the wages he claims are due." The referee noted that plaintiff submitted an unsigned letter indicating he was laid off due to lack of work, which contradicted his claim that he left because he was not getting paid. The referee also stated that "[a]lthough the employer did not appear, it did protest that the claimant abandoned his job and it did, throughout the term of his employment, report the claimant's wages to the agency." The referee found plaintiff ineligible for unemployment benefits, concluding that plaintiff's claim that DHS did not pay him lacked credibility and that "[w]hatever his reason or reasons for leaving may have been, it has not been shown to be for good cause attributable to the employer."

¶ 11 Plaintiff appealed the referee's decision. In plaintiff's written appeal, he asserted he "did not [q]uit but was laid off, due to [l]ack of work" and he was working "for a company that had stopped paying due to the state budget that was out of my hands." To his appeal, he attached a signed letter from a "Home Services Provider," stating his position with DHS "was terminated on July 6, 2017 due to lack of work." The Board affirmed the referee's decision denying plaintiff benefits. In its written order, the Board noted that it reviewed the entire record, it found it unnecessary to take further evidence, and it concluded that the referee's decision was supported by the record and law. The Board incorporated the referee's decision as part of its decision.

¶ 12 Plaintiff filed a pro se complaint for administrative review with the trial court. The trial court affirmed the Board's decision. The record on appeal does not contain a transcript from the trial court's hearing on plaintiff's complaint for administrative review. Plaintiff now appeals the trial court's order affirming the Board's decision.

¶ 13 II. ANALYSIS

¶ 14 Initially, we note that, as a reviewing court, we are entitled to the benefit of clearly defined issues with pertinent authority cited and cohesive legal arguments. Wing v. Chicago Transit Authority , 2016 IL App (1st) 153517, ¶ 11, 410 Ill.Dec. 427, 70 N.E.3d 244. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 341(h) (eff. July 1, 2008) governs the content and format of appellate briefs and these rules are mandatory. Voris v. Voris , 2011 IL App (1st) 103814, ¶ 8, 356 Ill.Dec. 379, 961 N.E.2d 475. A party's status as a pro se litigant, as here, does not relieve him of his obligation to comply with appellate rules. Fryzel v. Miller , 2014 IL App (1st) 120597, ¶ 26, 382 Ill.Dec. 405, 12 N.E.3d 684.

¶ 15 Plaintiff's brief does not comply with Rule 341(h). We recognize that plaintiff attempted to comply with the rules, as he submitted his brief on a form approved by the Illinois Supreme Court. However, the content in the sections of the form that he completed do not contain any citations to legal authority or appropriate references to pages of the record. See Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(6), (7) (eff. Jan. 1, 2016). This court is not a repository into which an appellant may foist the burden of argument and research. Enadeghe v. Dahms , 2017 IL App (1st) 162170, ¶ 23, 420 Ill.Dec. 74, 95 N.E.3d 1170. Accordingly, we may decline to address any arguments that do not contain appropriate citation. Id.

¶ 16 Even though plaintiff's brief does not comply with Rule 341(h), we will not dismiss the...